The Zealey brothers from Sevenoaks

Let me tell you a fascinating story about my Great Great Uncle, Sydney Charles Zealey,and his brothers whose roots go back to the charming town of Sevenoaks in Kent, England. Located just 35 miles south-east of London, Sevenoaks has a rich history dating back to the 13th century, when it became an important market town thanks to its strategic location on the route from London to Dartford.

One of the most iconic landmarks in Sevenoaks is the magnificent Knole House, a stunning 100-acre estate built by Archbishop Bourchier in 1456. The property was later seized by Henry VII and gifted to Queen Elizabeth I's cousin, Thomas Sackville. Today, Knole House is a beloved attraction that draws visitors from far and wide.

But the real reason I hold Sevenoaks dear to my heart is its association with cricket. You see, the Vine cricket ground in Sevenoaks is believed to be the oldest cricket ground in the world, dating back to a match played on its hallowed turf in 1734. As a cricket fan, it fills me with pride to know that my ancestor hailed from such a historic town. From the bustling market to the prestigious Sevenoaks School, Sevenoaks is a town that's steeped in heritage and charm, and one that will always hold a special place in my heart.

 Cricket at Sevenoaks 1960

The Strange Story of George Henry Sandwell and his Conjical Rights

George Henry Sandwell sued his wife Elizabeth for "RESTITUTION OF CONJICAL RIGHTS", but that was in the early 1900's and we should begin at the beginning.

George was the son of William Danton Sandwell and Mary Clark, one of twelve children.  His birth was registered in the last quarter of 1849 at Thanet, Kent, but all later documents list his place of birth as Ramsgate Kent.  Thanet was most likely the district, and Ramsgate the town.  By the age of 21 he was a Baptist Minister according the the census, and was living with the West family  He seems to have been living in the town as Mr West was a draper in Queen Street (now Cliff St) Ramsgate, 2 doors up from the Lord Nelson Inn, and next door to a Grocer on one side and a boot maker on the other.  This is the only information I found about the Lord Nelson Inn:

One year later, in 1872 he married Emily Johnson.  Emily appears to have been born in Russia, and I have not found her parents.  Her age is uncertain as she is listed in various documents as being born anywhere from 1848 to 1853

By the 1881 census George and Emily had two children and were living in Hillingdon, Middlesex, but both the children were born in Ipswich Suffock and as their daughter was just 1 they must have moved to Hillingdon in the year before the census.  George is listed as an Minister of Independent means.

Sometime in the next ten years the family moved to Canada, this time with another daughter born in England.  George is listed in the 1891 Canadian Census as living in York Ontario as a minister, his wife possibly born in Russia and her father born in Russia.  Six years later the family seems to have moved back to the UK  arriving on the St Paul in march 1897 at Southampton, but without their son Bernard.

On Ancestry I found this picture of George from his time as a minister in New England:

In July of 1897 George and his son Bernard (Bert) are listed on the Lucania traveling back from New York, George is listed as a minister and Bert as a student, so it appears Bernard must have continued studying in the US.  (Or perhaps came from Canada via the US, or the family moved to the US after Canada at some time?).

In 1898, just 2 years later, Emily died, and is registered as living in Essex at the time, She and George had been married 26 years.  In 1900 George married again, this time to Elizabeth Farley, daughter of Ebenezer (a Baptist Minister)  and Eliza Farley.  Elizabeth was three years younger than George, and it was her first marrige when she was 48 years old, which was unusual in those days.  In 1901 George and Elizabeth were living with three servants in Essex England, things must not have gone well however as by 1906 George was petitioning for the restitution of his conjugal rights.

According to the documents I found the matter appears to have begun in Dec 1906, by January 1907 his wife was appealing.  The registrar gave the parties two extensions of time, and then a letter was sent in March 1907 to both parties asking for documentation of adultery so that it could be inspected by his the other.  Something must have been forthcoming, as by the 19th of March an order is issued that the matter be heard by a special jury.  More documents were submitted, then on 28th May 1907 there is an order that the cause be struck off the list.

The petition states that they were lawfully married, lived together as husband and wife, then on or about 3rd October 1903 Elizabeth "withdrew from cohabitation" with George, without any just cause.  She "kept away from him and refused, and still refuses him his conjugal rights."   In the petition, George asks for his rights and for his wife to pay costs.

Elizabeth then accuses George of bringing the action "for the purpose of obtaining an annuity by her for the petitioner or otherwise securing monetary payments to him"  She states she cannot live in Leystone (their home) due to her health.

George goes on to state that he wrote to her (calling her Bessie) asking her to come home and reinstate his rights, and stating he has visited her in Italy and Switzerland during the previous 3 years but she still remains absent.  Quote:"I must therefore insist on my right as your husband and ask you to return to your home and duty".  He goes on to say that the "circumstances that hastened your departure have long since passed away" and that "if the house is too small for you" he is prepared to obtain a larger one.  He says "Surely it is possible for us to start afresh and realise some degree of happiness together".

Reading between the lines George seems to have come up wanting as a husband, I wonder if George not only had his eye on another women but also Elizabeth's money.

Apparently Elizabeth replied to the letter that she had received his "second letter of threat" (in Geneva) and she declines to discuss the matter, but is placing it in the hands of her solicitors.  (I think I am beginning to like Elizabeth!)  Sadly that is all I know from these documents, if I go to London again I think I will try to track the file down and see what happened.

It seems that they may have never divorced, but Elizabeth was a wealthy woman and she stayed in Switzerland, dying in 1927.  Her probate states she left no money to George, but to her brother and solicitor the huge sum of PDS 54,697.17.3d  (that is over 3 million pounds in today's money). 

Click here to view some of the legal documents.


By the 1911 census George is living, retired, with his daughter Vera and his son Arnold in Woodford Green, Essex.  Arnold was born in the United States in about 1893 and is a journalist.  One of his other sons Bernard settled in Canada, he was also a journalist and became Professor of Economics at McGill University.  He was a theater critic and editor of Saturday Night and an eminent Canadian author.  Meanwhile George appears to have travelled to and from Canada quite often.

George Henry Sandwell died on 15th July 1938 and his death was registered as London, his probate was valued at PDS 268.4.4d.  Considerably less that his wife!

The story throws up a few questions, particularly where did Elizabeth get all this money from?  It seems from her father who died in 1894 leaving PDS 86,699.14.10d to be devided amongst Elizabth, her brother Joseph and a William Roff.  But where did a Baptist minister get so much money?

Documents about Elizabeth and George Sandwell

Court Documents 1905-1908

George HenrySandwell vs Eliabeth Sandwell (Farley)

The Children of William and Ann Littleboy

Edmund Charles Clark - b1825

Builder during the Gold Rush

Even as he crossed the little wooden bridge there was no relief from the heat, the river was bare and still and the unfamiliar eucalyptus trees threw little shade.  “Could it get any hotter?” Edmund thought as he hurried to the post office of his new home to mail the letter he had written to his wife and children back in Ramsgate.  It wasn’t even lunch time yet, and the noise from the cicadas was deafening.  As he trudged along the road, red-yellow dust kicked up at every step.

Fortunately Edmund had found there was enough granite underneath to make good house foundations.  He took note with his builder eye as he approached the large building, a good solid roof of tile, sturdy posts for the veranda and a couple of good awnings for the royal mail coaches when they arrived.  An impressive building considering that it was surrounded by much smaller wooden ones that showcased the lack of carpenter’s skill in Sandhurst at the time.  He noticed they all had good, large signs attached however, and were a lot better than the makeshift tented rooms where most of the miners lived.

It was the heat and noise that he found so different from his home in Kent where the river Thames was always full and flowing, and the birdsong rang out.  Here the birds screeched loud and raucous, some even laughed at him, and the noise from the mining went on day and night.  Carts, equipment, horses and people were everywhere, along with the holes they were continually digging to look for gold. 

I wonder what it was like for his wife, back in England, to see him off at the docks of Liverpool and know that she would not see him again for years, not months to come, relying on those letters to home for news.    Edmund set out on a long sea journey and would not see Australia for 4 months.

Liverpool docks Circa 18815

Edmund, like many others came across the world to seek his family fortune in Bendigo (then Sandhurst) in the mid to late 1800's.  Gold was discovered along the banks of the Bendigo Creek in 1851 and the town went from a population of 800 to 20,000 in six months.  It is estimated that over 20 million ounces of gold was shipped from Australia to England during the gold rush. 

Sitting in Sydney, I could see the unassisted passenger list,  Number 127, Edmund Clark, adult male, English.  Point of embarkation Liverpool, contracted to land in Melbourne.  The date of his departure from Liverpool was significant, as it was right in the middle of the gold rush in Victoria in 1854.

Like many documents, this passenger list only let to more questions.  Edmund wanted a good life for his wife and young family, and he could see the results of the industrial revolution taking hold in England.  Food prices were rising, work becoming scarce and wages falling.  English newspapers were full of advertisements for skilled tradesmen to go to Australia and make their fortune, either on the goldfields or in the townships.  They also contained articles about the tonnes of gold being shipped back to England. 

So Edmund made the decision to go, but how would he pay for the passage?  The easy solution was a loan, but that meant that his family had to stay behind as collateral.  Endmund was a go-getter, hard worker, and risk taker, so he set off for the goldfields of Bendigo.

He knew many people were doing the same, and they would need somewhere to live.  Edmund took the risk that there would be plenty of work for a fit carpenter/builder.  he was right of course.  he set about building small cottages for the miners and the debt was repaid quickly.  Within three years his wife Mahala and three children were on their way to Australia to join him.

England

Edmund is the youngest son of John Clark and Jane Beer.  It would seem both families had a long history with Dover and Kent.  Edmund was born in 1825 in Ramsgate, Kent, and baptised at the St Lawrence Church, Ramsgate in November of that year.  His father was a Builder, and brothers were carpenters, according to the 1841 census when the family was living in Addington, (A town in the Parish of Ramsgate) in Kent.

St Lawrence Church, Ramsgate where Edmund was Christened.

Edmund's mother died in August, 1849 and he married Mahala Banks a month later on 1st. September, 1849.

By the 1851 Census Edmund and Mahala had one child, a daughter, Elizabeth who had been born just 11 months earlier, and Edmund was a Carpenter Journeyman, meaning he has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification.  Journeymen are considered competent and able to work in that field as a fully qualified employee. Although a journeyman has completed a trade certificate  they are not yet able to work as a self-employed master craftsman.

In 1855 Edmund was 38 and travelled on the Glenmanna to Australia, the journey took 4 months.  The GLENMANNA  sailed on 28/10/1854 - and arrived in Melbourne on 14/2/1855 from Liverpool.  It was reported as being 1,246 tonne; Captain H Rogers; 286 passengers; 110 days; light weather, which at times left them almost becalmed.  The previous voyage of the Glenmanna  had been a disaster, with 44 people dying of cholera in Canada.

Australia

During the 1850's it was not unusual for men to immigrate to Australia ahead of their family.  Not for the obvious reasons, but because they had borrowed money for their passage.  The father set out for the goldfields of Australia and the family stayed behind as security for the loan.  Once the debt had been paid off the rest of the family immigrated to Australia.

The gold rushes of the 1850s brought a huge influx of settlers,  initially the majority of them went to the richest gold fields at Ballarat and Bendigo, and Victoria soon had a larger population than New South Wales.  Gold produced sudden wealth for a few, and some of Australia's oldest wealthy families date their fortunes from this period, but also employment and modest prosperity for many more. Within a few years these new settlers outnumbered the convicts and ex-convicts, and they began to demand trial by jury, representative government, a free press and the other symbols of liberty and democracy.  It was a time that would change Australian history for ever.

So Edmund came to Australia in 1855, when Bendigo was called Sandhurst, and was a bustling city of miners, just a year later, his father died in England.

Sandhurst 1857

Sandhurst 1884

"General view of Sandhurst, the centre of Quartz-reef Gold mining,Victoria". wood engraving published in Comprehensive Atlas and Geography, 1882

Two years after Edmund, Mahala traveled to Australia with their 4 children, Elizabeth, Mary Anne, Mahala and Edward, (all aged under 6) arriving in Melbourne on 30th July, 1857.  Edmund and Mahala went on to have another 6 children.

In 1866 we know the family was living at 10 Havelock Street, Bendigo, when the youngest daughter Susan was born.  By 1903 the family were living in Wattle street, but still owned the Havelock Street house, where Edmund and Mahala are also listed on the electoral roll.  It is most likely that Edmund built this house.

10 Havelock Street, Bendigo (today)

In 1916, George Mackay continued his popular series of the 'Annals of Bendigo', and wrote:...'Mr E.C. Clark arrived in Bendigo in 1854, and followed the occupation of builder.  He assisted to build the first post office.'..... 

Bendigo Post office, 1887

Bendigo Historical Society completed a report on the family for me, and they unearthed many houses built by Edmund, most were miners cottages, and he probably built one, sold it, and then built the next one and so on. He built over 30 houses, many in Wattle and King Street. 

Read about William and Mahala's children here.  One of  Edmund's children, named after his father, (also Edmund) married and moved to Western Australia and a whole section of the family began there.  Joseph Clark was my Great Grandfather, he appears to have been in trouble quite a lot in Bendigo for petty crimes, and I would speculate he was shipped off to NSW as the black sheep of the family.   More about Joseph in a later post.

Edmund died on 24th February, 1905, and is buried at the historic Bendigo Cemetery, alongside his wife Mahala who died nearly a year later, on 4th January, 1906.  I have found Edmund's will, and he was quite well off for someone of those times. 

Grave of Edmund and Mahala.

Edmund and Mahala took a chance and left England for a better life and opportunities in the Goldfields of Bendigo, Victoria,  Australia.  They built a good life, houses, and family together.

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More Information? If you are researching Edmund Charles Clark or Mahala Banks or their family,  and would like the sources for this story, please contact me or comment below.  I would be happy to collaborate with you.

1851 Census - Thomas Grayson Fisher